Foundation Raises $6.4M and Launches Passport Prime, the First Human Authority Hardware™ Device for the AI Era

 

Fulgur Ventures leads the round as Foundation opens Passport Prime to general sale and makes its KeyOS developer platform available to outside developers.

Today is a big day for Foundation. We're announcing three things at once: a $6.4 million funding round led by Fulgur Ventures, with participation from Arche Capital; the general availability of Passport Prime, our flagship security device; and expanded access to the KeyOS developer platform, so outside developers can start building apps for Passport Prime today.

Together, these three announcements mark Foundation's expansion from Bitcoin self-custody into a much bigger mission, building dedicated hardware that keeps humans in control of high-stakes digital decisions in the agentic era. The round brings Foundation's total funding to $16.5 million.

Here's what's launching and why it matters.

A $6.4M Round to Build Human Authority Hardware™

The round is led by Fulgur Ventures and joined by Arche Capital, and accelerates Foundation's expansion from Bitcoin self-custody into identity, multi-factor authentication, and AI agent authorization.

We've trademarked the category we're building: Human Authority Hardware™  dedicated, American-manufactured security devices that ensure high-stakes digital decisions require explicit human approval on hardware that no compromised software environment can reach.

"At Fulgur, we aim to support Bitcoin companies that can scale and solve real problems for large markets. Foundation is taking the discipline of self-custody, open source software, dedicated hardware, and explicit user approval, and extending it beyond Bitcoin into identity, multi-factor authentication, and AI agent authorization. We are proud to support Foundation since their early stage." — Oleg Mikhalsky, Partner at Fulgur Ventures

"I led Foundation's seed round at Polychain in 2022 because Zach and Ken saw further than anyone else in the space. The long game was never just signing devices. It was secure hardware paired with a secure operating system that lets users manage their entire digital lives. KeyOS delivers on that vision. The SDK, simulator, and security architecture turn dedicated hardware into the most advanced application platform for personal and enterprise security on the market, and let developers build the next generation of apps for money, identity, and AI authorization."  Will Wolf, Partner at Arche Capital

Passport Prime Is Now Generally Available

Passport Prime began shipping to pre-order customers in March. With today's general availability, it is open to all buyers.

Passport Prime is the first entry in the Human Authority Hardware™ category. Out of the box, it includes:

• A Bitcoin hardware wallet
• FIDO security keys
• 2FA storage
• A secrets vault
• 50GB of encrypted file storage

It's a programmable security platform, and the KeyOS SDK lets developers build anything else they can imagine on the device, from Bitcoin spending policies to identity tools, enterprise signing workflows, and AI agent approval flows.

Passport Prime is available today at foundation.xyz 

Why This Matters: Security for the Agentic Era

The problem is no longer just key storage. AI agents can now act across accounts, wallets, cloud infrastructure, and enterprise systems at machine speed. A browser prompt, a phone notification, or a policy engine running on the same computer as the agent cannot be the final authority for a consequential action.

Before money moves, code deploys, credentials are used, or sensitive data is accessed, the human should be able to review and approve the action on a trusted device they hold.

"Every era has its key management problem. For Bitcoin it was self-custody. For the agentic era it is who actually authorizes the decisions an AI agent takes on someone's behalf. That question cannot be answered by the same computer running the agent. It has to be answered on dedicated hardware, with a display you can trust and an operating system you can inspect. Nothing happens without your approval." — Zach Herbert, cofounder and CEO of Foundation

Existing security hardware was not designed for this world. Hardware wallets were built for signing cryptocurrency transactions. FIDO security keys authenticate users but provide no trusted display for reviewing what is being approved. Enterprise HSMs live in server racks and access-control systems, not in a user's hand.

Passport Prime is designed to be the human-facing trust layer for a world where software increasingly acts on behalf of humans.

The KeyOS Developer Platform Is Open

Starting today, developers can build on Passport Prime.

Visit the Foundation developer page to access:

• Full documentation for the KeyOS SDK
• CLI tooling for building and packaging KeyOS apps
• The KeyOS simulator, so you can build and test apps on a computer without physical Passport hardware
• A USB-connected MCP server that lets AI coding agents build, take screenshots, and test applications on real Passport Prime hardware

Once your app is ready, you can request a developer unit from Foundation to test on real hardware. Developers can build security hardware applications the same way they build software today, including with the help of AI.

Foundation plans to launch the KeyOS app store to all users by the end of Q2, giving developers a direct path from SDK development to distribution on dedicated security hardware already in customers' hands.

"Passport Prime secures the keys. You set the policies. KeyOS enforces them. The SDK lets developers build the apps that put those policies in your hands. The device stops being a box your keys sit in and becomes the hardware root of trust for everything you do online." — Ken Carpenter, cofounder and CTO of Foundation

Under the Hood: KeyOS and QuantumLink

Passport Prime runs KeyOS, a Rust microkernel operating system Foundation developed over three years. KeyOS is open source.

It ships with QuantumLink over Bluetooth, a post-quantum-secure encrypted communications protocol that uses ML-KEM and ChaCha20-Poly1305 over a dedicated, isolated Bluetooth chip.

The platform was built so developers can ship serious security applications without having to invent a security stack from scratch, and so users can inspect what's running on their own device.

First on KeyOS: Cake Wallet

Cake Wallet is the first outside team shipping on KeyOS, giving its one million users a best-in-class cold storage experience with the Cake app for KeyOS.

We expect additional integrations across Bitcoin, identity, and AI agent workflows throughout 2026.

Get Started Today

• Buy Passport Prime: — Shipping next day.
• Build on KeyOS: — docs, SDK, simulator, and CLI tools available immediately.

Closing Thoughts

We started Foundation because we believed people should be in control of their own keys. That belief hasn't changed, it has just gotten more important. As AI agents take more actions on our behalf, the question of who actually approves those actions becomes one of the defining security problems of the next decade.

Passport Prime is our answer: dedicated hardware, an open source operating system, a trusted display, and an SDK so the rest of the industry can build alongside us. Made in the USA, manufactured in an ITAR-compliant facility, and designed from day one for a world where humans, not browsers, not phones, not the same computer running the agent, have the final say.

Thank you to Fulgur Ventures, Arche Capital, Polychain Capital, and every customer, developer, and supporter who has helped us get here. The next chapter starts today.